Dollhouse
by FortheFoxes
Summary: The Joker feels like Gotham isn't getting his message anymore, so when he finds a girl sleeping in his new hideout he doesn't kill her. No, the Joker has other plans instead, and the girl's going to play her part whether she likes it or not. (name to be changed)


The joker was not having such a great day today. This was strange, because there was nothing that _wasn't_ going his way. He'd taken a school hostage, killed some henchmen that had irritated him, he'd even gotten himself a brand new hideout after the bats had found his old , all was just peachy, yet the Joker felt that something was wrong. He was currently standing in the entrance of the new hideout, an old abandoned factory- apparently the place attracted bored teenagers and men like him alike, judging by the crude gravity that littered the walls.

That was all fine by him, he'd add his own marks sometime, something that'd anger the bat if he found this hideout as well. His mind immediately came up with taunts that would look good written in blood, but even the mental image of the bat finding them and knowing people had been killed for them didn't manage to make the weird feeling go away.

It just wasn't enough, the Joker realized.

He'd murdered and burned and made sure every Gotham citizen developed coulrophobia, but it wasn't. Enough. When was the last time he'd been on the front page of the Gotham Times? When had there last been a breaking news segment dedicated to him? The city cowered in fear of him, he knew this, but what was the use if the fear didn't evolve into chaos? Fear was the scarecrow's thing. The Joker enjoyed the idea of it, but it was not what he craved. Where where the common people betraying their own morals? Turning against each other?  
He wanted people to riot, he wanted to make them think, show them the true, appalling nature of society. No- of humanity.  
That just wasn't doable if they thought he was some common criminal. Did they think he did it for the money when he robbed a bank? Did they think ''oh it's _just_ the joker again'?  
The thought alone made him growl. he started pacing the empty factory hall, his every step and sound being echoed back by the rusty metal walls. the henchmen would be there soon. They where probably arguing outside right now, drawing straws to determine who had to go in first. They knew he often killed the one who asked for instructions.

The joker stopped in his tracks. Clenching his hands in frustration at the realization he had. He'd become _predictable_.

He loathed the idea, it made him furious, made him want to go outside and cut open the first human being he met. But- that was what people expected of him. Instead, he walked over to the nearest wall and punched it, the resulting bang echoing all around the hall, pieces of rust raining down on him from above. The Joker took no notice. Why hadn't he realized it before? How had he let this happen? He wasn't on the front page anymore, not because the citizens didn't care.. No, because he wasn't news.

He never did the same thing twice, but people had grown to count on him doing _something._

They didn't care whether he blew up a community center or freed all Arkham inmates, it caused death and fear all the same. Death and fear. Two things people could get used to. It was all boring, all for nothing if people didn't get the message he was bringing over. The joker was an agent of chaos. What use was it if people only feared the agent? He needed them to see the bigger picture again.  
Corrupting Batsy wasn't working- not quick enough, not flashy enough. He needed something else to remind them, all of Gotham, that they were all him, and that he was them. He needed time to think-

and of course that was the moment his thoughts where interrupted. The heavy factory door opened with a creaking sound. His goons had arrived. The joker, who'd been standing with his back to the hall, turned around to see who had drawn the unlucky straw this time.

It was Hank, a short but broad man who'd only joined recently. Joker knew he was just doing it for the money. _How disgusting._ His death wouldn't be a loss -but he was going to contain himself. Instead of taking out the switchblade his hand had instinctively reached for he casually walked over to Hank, a big smile hiding his inner turmoil.

''Take of your mask will you? We're all.. friendss here, aren't we?'' The Joker looked down on Hank, tong poking out to habitually lick his scars. Hank quickly did what was asked of him and the Joker enjoyed the look of apprehension his goon showed now that he couldn't hide behind the anonymity of the clown face anymore.

''Sooo.. Where you going to tell me something? Or did you uh-'' the Joker moved his face closer to hank's face now, knowing the goon would need to fight his instinct to move away.

He whispered, ''Did you want to tell me a secret? Something the _others_ can't know about? That why you came all _alone_?'' The Joker stayed in close proximity to hank, turning his ear, inviting him to whisper something back.

The joker knew Hank was fearing for his life right now, he could see him swallowing, sweat forming on his forehead. The Joker imagined the cogs in his small mind turning, he probably felt too high and mighty to be doing something as silly as whispering, but he didn't want to make the Joker angry either. In the end he gave up his pride. The Joker smiled.

''There's.. there's nothing boss, the others are outside. I just wanted to ask what you needed us to do now..?'' To hank's credit he whispered the whole sentence, although in the Joker's opinion his whisper wasn't very soft. He took a step back and slapped Hank on the shoulder, causing him to jump.

''Well, why didn't you just say so?'' The joker asked slightly louder than necessary. Hanks eyes darted to the hand on his shoulder and before he could reply the hand was gone and the Joker was behind him, pushing him towards the door again.

''Look _Hank_ '' He drawled out the name ''You go back to the other goons, and you tell them, you tell them to uh.. cozy up this ol' factory. Move in the couches, build a kitchen, install tv's, do what you want okay? Go uh.. _nuts_ '' The Joker laughed at that last part before he continued, still pushing hank towards the old factory door,

''Just one, just one little teeny tiny thing okay? See, I'm gonna be in my _room.._ The one on the end of the hallway and I'm not gonna be happy if you, you or anyone, disturbs me okay _? Y_ ou get my drift?''

With one final push Hank stumbled towards the door leading to the outside. The Joker didn't listen to the reply, he didn't care what Hank or any of his goons did now. He wouldn't be needing them for some time.

When the sound of the door being shut again resounded through the hall the Joker moved again. He'd checked the entire building before choosing it as his hideout of course, he'd been happy to find a room that already had a mattress in it. It even had a bathroom attached to it.  
The goons could pick wherever they liked to sleep, the Joker was going to live in that room and he wouldn't come out until he knew how he was going to let Gotham taste chaos again. He quickly got himself to the one abandoned hallway the factory had. The way was barely illuminated by dusty light bulbs hanging from the ceiling but the Joker could find his room with ease.

Something was wrong when he entered though. He immediately sensed he wasn't alone. He knew there was someone with him, but it took him a few seconds to spot the intruder.

He'd expected someone to stand in the shadows, his first thought being that maybe bats had been overenthusiastic in their little game of hide and seek this time. But no, no caped crusaders to be found. Instead he found the intruder when he lowered his gaze to the mattress. There was a mop of messy, auburn hair sticking out from under a ratty blanket.  
The Joker squatted down in curiosity, lifting the blanket a bit.

It was a girl. A girl was sleeping, sleeping on the mattress he had claimed for himself as if _she_ owned it. She probably did, but that didn't matter to the Joker. This was his room now, his room, his hideout and _his_ mattress.

It were the thoughts from earlier that day that urged him not to just kill the woman lying before him.  
That would have been predictable and boring and other things he never wanted to associate himself with. _No_ , he thought as he got a piece of rope from his pockets. This was just what he needed. Something new, surprising. Even if she wouldn't bring on the downfall of Gotham, he was going to make this interesting. She'd better make this interesting for _him_. The Joker felt giddy.

He picked her from the mattress- his mattress, and finally he could see who he was dealing with. The girl looked to be in her twenties. She was tall but clearly malnourished. In fact, she was so light and fragile looking that the Joker felt like he was holding a doll, giggling to himself at that sentiment. A clown and a doll. It _fit_.

She wore a tank top sporting a silly cartoon and a boring, grey pair of shorts. Her hair was cut short, and her face and arms where littered with freckles. The most notable thing about the girl though, was that she was still peacefully asleep. Even after he'd put her down again and tied her wrists to a water pipe that ran along the wall. Only sheltered people slept deep in Gotham, and considering that he had found her alone in an abandoned factory with no possessions in sight the Joker dared to guess she hadn't lived a very sheltered life. Maybe she'd taken something? Bit too much of the good stuff? The Joker scrunched up his nose at that thought. Drugs where _boring_. The easy way out, yeah, if she was a junkie he'd just kill her, predictability be damned. There was hope though, there where no bongs or zip-loc bags to be seen around her, nor needle marks to be found on her arms.

He entertained the thought of waking her up right then and there, but in the end he opted for waiting. He wanted to be able to see all the emotions forming and morphing on her pretty face as she naturally woke up and realized the situation. Confusion, surprise, shock, fear, until she was- well, that depended on her. Would she beg him not to kill her? Would she offer money? Would she cry? Scream? Threaten?

What he'd do with her depended on her reaction, and the Joker couldn't wait to find out what game he'd be playing with his newly acquired doll.

* * *

Hello everyone! I'm here with a new story. This is my first batman fanfic so I hope I'm doing justice the the character of the Joker. He's one of my favourites, and probably the only character that actually makes me want to read xOC stories. Reading some of those stories made me want to write my own and here we are.

Now for some practical information, I'm not even sure if this is going to be a joker x OC story. If it is, it's not going to be the typical ''girl falling in love with the Joker while ignoring that he's a serial killer'' stories. The Joker is going to manipulate this girl, he's going to shape her until she is and acts how she wants him to be. The girl will probably have romantic feelings towards the Joker and the Joker is going to like and use that, but it's going to be more like a case of Stockholm syndrome than actual, healthy, two-sided romance you know? This is going to get pretty dark and it might be changed to M rating later. I want to change the name too, but I haven't found a better one yet.

Second thing is a thing you readers get to choose! (I tend to do this a lot, I want to please as many readers as possible so any time I'm not sure about where I want to go with the plot I'll just ask you readers.) The thing is, I'm not quite sure about the girl yet.

These are the two options:

1- The girl has had an head injury that leaves her acting more like a child than an adult. She escaped a mental hospital somewhere.

pros: The joker will be surprised and not sure how to handle her which can be fun, She'll be very unpredictable, the joker can manipulate her in original ways, the joker will turn a complete blank and innocent slate into something as twisted as he himself is.

cons: it may be not be as interesting because she'll have no life outside of the Joker, conversations will mostly be very one sided (with the Joker talking the most of course), can be kinda awkward on all sides when she acts like a child.

2- The girl is a criminal herself (I was thinking something with arson/pyromania) who'd been hiding from the police in the factory.

pros: The Joker will be impressed that she's already committing crimes herself, it'll be fun to see how the Joker can use her to cause mayhem, they can have actual conversations (with her making a sarcastic remark every now and then and him either getting mad or laughing), she can be somewhere 'undercover' without anyone knowing she's the one working for the Joker.

cons: The transformation will be smaller because she's already committing crimes herself, the joker will end up having less say in what she'll be at the end of the story (I'm not going to write him completely stripping her of her personality, if I ever do I'll only post it on AO3 only because that stuff's going to get heavy), the police and possibly Batman will already know her so there's not really going to be a big mystery there, it won't really send a message to the citizens of Gotham. (I mean, what do they care that there's another criminal working for the clown?)

So those are the two choices I'm thinking of right now, I'd be very happy if people could let me know which option they prefer! Oh and I'd be very happy if people could let me know what they think of the story as well, I'm still rather new to writing so I'm taking any constructive criticism! And praise too, let's just say that the more reviews I get the more motivated I'll be to continue writing this story. :)


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